CLI Reference

create

Creates a new Express.js project with interactive prompts.

npx xpress-generator create [name]

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
name	No	Project name in PascalCase. If omitted, the CLI will ask.

Interactive prompts

Prompt	Type	Options
Project name	Input	Any PascalCase string
Database	List	MongoDB · MySQL · PostgreSQL · SQLServer
Use TypeScript?	Confirm	Yes / No (default: No)
Save location	List	Current directory (.) · Desktop · Downloads · Documents · Custom path

Scaffold into the current folder

The first location option — "Ruta actual (.)" — creates the project inside whatever directory you're already in. Perfect for CI, monorepos, or when you've pre-created a folder.

Examples

# Interactive — prompts all questions
npx xpress-generator create

# Skip name prompt
npx xpress-generator create BlogApi

# Create a TypeScript project (prompts for DB and location)
npx xpress-generator create MyService

What it generates

src/
  shared/errors/AppError.js
  shared/utils/catchAsync.js
  shared/utils/httpResponse.js
  shared/constants/httpStatus.js
  shared/constants/messages.js
  shared/validators/validate.js
  shared/validators/exampleSchema.js
  middleware/auth.js
  middleware/errorHandler.js
  modules/{name}/controller.js
  modules/{name}/routes.js
  modules/{name}/{name}Model.js
  modules/{name}/service.js
  modules/auth/authController.js
  modules/auth/authRoutes.js
  modules/auth/RefreshToken.js
  config/config-{db}.js
  app.js
  server.js
db/
  migrations/{timestamp}-create-{name}.js   (MySQL / PostgreSQL)
  migrations/{timestamp}-create-{name}.sql  (SQL Server)
  migrate.js                                (SQL Server)
  seeders/                                  (MySQL / PostgreSQL)
tests/
  setup.js
  indexController.test.js
.env
.eslintrc.json
.lintstagedrc.json
.sequelizerc                                (MySQL / PostgreSQL)
src/config/sequelize.js                     (MySQL / PostgreSQL)
jest.config.js
Dockerfile
docker-compose.yml
.dockerignore
.husky/pre-commit
.xpress.json
package.json
tsconfig.json                               (TypeScript only)

Installed dependencies

Production:

express  dotenv  colors  cors  helmet  morgan
bcryptjs  jsonwebtoken  zod  express-rate-limit  cookie-parser
+ DB driver (mongoose / mysql2+sequelize / pg+sequelize / mssql)

Dev — runtime:

nodemon
+ TypeScript: ts-node  typescript  @types/node  @types/express  @types/*

Dev — testing:

jest  supertest  eslint  lint-staged
+ TypeScript: ts-jest  @types/jest  @types/supertest

Dev — git hooks:

husky

Dev — migrations:

sequelize-cli   (MySQL / PostgreSQL only)

Generated package.json scripts

Script	Description
npm run dev	nodemon (JS) or ts-node (TS)
npm start	Production server
npm test	Jest with coverage
npm run test:watch	Jest in watch mode
npm run build	Compile TypeScript (TS only)
npm run db:migrate	Run pending migrations (relational DBs)
npm run db:migrate:undo	Roll back last migration (MySQL / PostgreSQL)

---

generate:model

Generates a full CRUD module inside an existing xpress-generator project.

npx xpress-generator generate:model <name>
npx xpress-generator g:model <name>

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
name	Yes	Model name in PascalCase (e.g. Product, BlogPost)

Generated files

All files are generated inside src/modules/{name}/:

File	Description
src/modules/{name}/{name}Model.js	Database model for your project's DB
src/modules/{name}/service.js	getAll, getById, create, update, remove
src/modules/{name}/schema.js	Zod validation schema
src/modules/{name}/controller.js	CRUD controller using catchAsync
src/modules/{name}/routes.js	Express router with auth-protected routes
db/migrations/{ts}-create-{name}.js	Sequelize migration (MySQL / PostgreSQL)
db/migrations/{ts}-create-{name}.sql	SQL migration (SQL Server)

How it detects DB and language

The command reads .xpress.json in the project root:

{
  "dbType": "MongoDB",
  "language": "javascript",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

If .xpress.json is not found, the CLI will ask you to specify the database.

Example

cd MyApp
npx xpress-generator generate:model Product

Output:

✓ src/modules/product/productModel.js
✓ src/modules/product/service.js
✓ src/modules/product/schema.js
✓ src/modules/product/controller.js
✓ src/modules/product/routes.js
✓ db/migrations/1712345678-create-product.js

📌 Run migrations:
  npm run db:migrate

📌 Register the route in src/app.js:
  const productRoutes = require('./modules/product/routes');
  app.use('/api/products', productRoutes);

Generated route permissions

Method	Route	Middleware
GET	/api/products	Public
GET	/api/products/:id	Public
POST	/api/products	verifyToken
PUT	/api/products/:id	verifyToken
DELETE	/api/products/:id	verifyToken + requireRole('admin')

---

generate:middleware

Generates a custom Express middleware.

npx xpress-generator generate:middleware <name>
npx xpress-generator g:middleware <name>

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
name	Yes	Middleware name in camelCase (e.g. cache, requestLogger)

Generated file

src/middleware/{name}.js

Example

npx xpress-generator g:middleware cache
# generates: src/middleware/cache.js

Generated content:

const AppError = require('../shared/errors/AppError');

/**
 * cache middleware
 * Add your logic here
 */
module.exports = (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    // TODO: implement cache logic
    next();
  } catch (err) {
    next(new AppError(err.message, 500));
  }
};

---

Global options

Flag	Description
--version / -V	Print xpress-generator version
--help / -h	Show help for a command

npx xpress-generator --version
npx xpress-generator create --help